Circumcision: One Country's Ritual Is Another's Unnecessary Procedure

Posting Date: 10/02/2000

Did you know that the circumcision rate in Britain is about 3.8 percent for boys under age 15, yet physicians there say too many unnecessary procedures are taking place?

Compare that figure to the United States, where about 65 percent of young boys are still being circumcised. Many health experts here say only about six percent of these procedures can be justified for medical reasons, and I think that figure is far too high.

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In Britain, the main justification given for circumcision is the condition known as phimosis, where the foreskin is non-retractable, according to a report in the British Medical Journal. However, this irregularity usually disappears on its own as a boy ages and experts agree that only 0.6 percent of boys with pathological phimosis need to be circumcised.

The same article points out that only two percent of boys in Scandinavia are circumcised, which is a really low rate that pleases me.

The United States is behind the times in reducing the rate of circumcision. It remains unnecessarily high because of symbolic rituals and the mistaken belief that it is a preventative health measure.

Source: British Medical Journal, Sept. 30, 2000